Have you forgotten what you learned in school about the American Civil War? To truly understand the political and social conflicts that brought about and sustained this titanic conflict, I have a few books I can suggest. But, if you only have a few hours you can always pickup Civil War: A Nation Divided by Cauldron for Xbox 360, PS2, and PC.

Civil War: A Nation Divided is the first first-person shooter to ever attempt to simulate civil war-era combat. This is also the first game developed by The History Channel which contributes historical information, pictures, and one of its narrators to the game. The game offers 12 pivotal battles of the war split evenly between the Union and the Confederacy. Before each battle a narration describes what has led to the looming battle as pictures from the war flash on the screen. Some “previews” have animated battle maps showing the movement of the armies to provide context your mission.

Each battle opens as many FPS battles begins with the player and his “Squad” crouched behind something; as a superior briefs you on what you are to accomplish. After that you are on your own…literally. While other computer controlled soldiers fight along side you it seems as if they are fighting their own battles and they are only a help if they happen to attack the same group of soldiers you are.

All the standard trappings of a FPS game are here including a compass to guide the player through the battle, a health meter depicted with star symbology. 5 is healthy and 1 being close to death. Also included is an ammo remaining counter and a virtual gunsight. Picking up med kits recharges your health but it’s really hard to die in this game unless you get hit by a cannon blast. I was involved in many hand-to-hand altercations and survived all of them despite the fact I had never played a FPS on Xbox and was not used to the controller. I must have looked like a crazy man to an observer, no wonder I survived…no one wanted to attack me.

The Civil War was the last great conflict for Americans where the repeating gun was not the prevalent weapon. While repeating rifles, pistols, and other multi-shot weapons were in use during the war, the one-shot Musket was the standard weapon for the infantry. Even the tactics were still a throwback to the revolutionary war as soldiers marched in straight lines and were basically used as marching cannons firing volleys into the opposing ranks at 20 paces.

After playing many different FPS games set in conflicts in the 20th century, I was excited to play a game where the class of weaponry would challenge the way I usually play FPS games. Games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty allow you to blast away with automatic weapons and many times at great distances.

Civil War: A Nation Divided offers 13 different weapons including various rifles, a Colt revolver, sword, knife, and grenade. The primitive nature of the musket and many of the rifles where you are reloading after each shot gives the player a small appreciation for the steely determination soldiers needed to have to survive this type of combat.

Unfortunately, the way this game is structured many of the weapons are impractible for the type of battle you are fighting. In the Civil War, most portions of the battles referenced in the game were fought in straight lines with thousands of troops standing shoulder to shoulder facing each other. The battles as represented in the game are almost exclusively running battles where multi-shot weapons are a must. While its fun to try and survive using the one-shot weapons; you find yourself switching quickly to the multi-shot Colt revolver and Colt rifle.

The set pieces of the game give a good representation of the varying geography that the war was fought. From the heavily forested hills of Gettysburg to the swampy morass of the Carolina coast the gamer must carefully navigate these areas while avoiding the battle hazards of the day including burning wagons and spindle style barricades that actually affect your health if you bump into them.

I liked the authentic sounding gunfire and the period specific yelps and battle cries however there are a few quirks of the game that deny it an all out victory. When someone is shot they all die the same way with a clutch of the chest, a guttural grunt, then they sink to their knees before finally dying in a dramatic flop. Just like in real life, when the gun fires you are momentarily blinded by smoke so you don’t see the results of your shot. But after the smoke clears its hard to tell if you have administered the fatal shot as each enemy tries to win the Oscar as they fall dying to the ground.

The type of soldiers also lack variety as one review noted: Despite all the effort to be historically accurate, the game seemed to suggest that all Confederate soldiers were 70 year-old graybeards screaming wildly as they attacked you. The lack of a multi-player option either in-house or online was almost treasonous in this day and age of FPS games; of course this game IS about a day and age gone by.

The most troubling part about Civil War: A Nation Divided is the lack of continuity and a sense of accomplishment. The player chooses each battle, fights it and then its over with no sense of how it fits into the grander scheme of the war. I found myself reaching a certain point on the map only to see the screen go black and then I was returned to the main page to choose another battle. The lack of a campaign element to the game progression blunts the educational thrust of this game. Maybe this ambiguity was intentional as those still standing 142 years ago were also left feeling confused and unsatisfied.

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